We all know that oil prices have skyrocketed over the past couple years. Gasoline prices have gone up drastically as well. So it should be no surprise that home heating oil has also jumped in price substantially.
Natural gas prices are also on the rise. Across the nation natural gas is going up. The utility here is asking for a whopping 40% increase in their rates for natural gas.
So what have the recent trends been in prices for heating oil, natural gas and electricity?
From 2004 to 2008 the rates have been :
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Gas | 10.75 | 12.7 | 13.75 | 13 | 15.11 |
| Electric | 8.9 | 9.4 | 10.4 | 10.6 | 11.2 |
| Heat oil | 154 | 205 | 237 | 259 | 385 |
Figures are in cents / kwh for electric, dollars per thousand cubic feed for natural gas and cents per gallon for heating oil. Source: Energy Information Administration short term energy outlook data.
In that period, Natural gas increased 8.9% annually, electricity went up 5.9% annual and heating oil has jumped up 25.7% annually.
Thats a 41% increase for gas, 26% increase for electricity and staggering 150% increase for heating oil in just 4 years.
Graphically the prices look like this:
This type of data might come in handy if you are considering changing your home heating source. Electricity is the most stable price and that would be a benefit in going with an electric heat choice. If we look back at historical data for electricity we can see that electricity has increased an average of 3.65% annually from 1960 to 2007.
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